A week for the extraordinary

In so many ways, the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to America this week take us into the realm of the beyond.

Beyond usual procedures for these things, for one.

The leader of the world’s 1 billion Roman Catholics has been to the White House only once in history. That changes this week, and President Bush is pulling out all the stops: driving out to a suburban military base to meet Pope Benedict XVI’s plane, bringing a giant audience to the South Lawn and hosting a fancy East Room dinner.

These are all firsts.

Bush has never before given a visiting leader the honor of picking him up at the airport. In fact, no president has done so at Andrews Air Force Base, the typical landing spot for modern leaders.

A crowd of up to 12,000 is due at the White House on Wednesday morning for the pope’s official, pomp-filled arrival ceremony.

That’s the biggest crowd to attend a White House function in the Bush presidency. Larger than Queen Elizabeth’s reception.

The evening festivities will mark the first time the Bushes have put on a high-profile meal in honor of someone who isn’t even a guest. Wednesday is the pontiff’s 81st birthday, and the menu celebrates his German heritage with Bavarian-style food.

John Paul II was the first pope to make great use of the available means of communication to reach the world. Benedict has taken it to the next level. He sent a video greeting in advance of his trip, available online, and he has journalists reporting live and blogging from his airplane….as it is in the air. They afford thoughts like this, from Fox’s Greg Burke:

There are two theories about flying with the pope. One is that the plane will never go down. The second is that if it does, everyone goes to heaven.

There’s an analogy in there…

And a lot more of the extraordinary to come.